Lips (Xbox 360): A Retrospective, sort of

In 2008, Lips was announced at E3 with a performance of "Mercy" by singer Duffy.  The game would be released in North America on November 18, 2008 to mixed (yet average) reviews.  In October, 2009 the first of three add-ons, Number One Hits was released (not counting any regional discs).  Number One Hits changed the scoring engine and added avatar support (gestures) along with dynamic leaderboards.  It also added combos to the scoring system and insanely long start-up times.  In 2010, Party Classics was released - though it was difficult to find at retail.  It added cups to the game.  Cups are based off of leaderboard position (i do not currently have any crystal positions, but i am in the top 10 for a couple of DLC songs).   In retrospect, this was probably the first clear sign that the series was in trouble.  After Party Classics was released, there was a third add-on disc, Lips I Love the 80s, but only in Europe.  No new DLC has been released for Lips (in the US) since February 18, 2011.  The Lips Facebook page has not been updated since August 2010 (and their decent external site vanished before that).

So to sum it up...  Lips had the core game and three add-ons that i acknowledge.  Did it have any DLC?  It may surprise you to learn that 379 songs are currently available download in North America.  So, Lips has (or had) about 499 total songs in the series available in North America.  Lips 80s (as i call it) was not released in the North American market, but all of the songs were released as DLC (i imported the 80s version from the UK).

Rumors of a Kinect enabled sequel surfaced when it was revealed that Microsoft purchased/registered the domain name KinectLips.com.  So, now i am waiting in anticipation for E3 to see if the series will get the sequel it deserves.  There really aren't that many games that appeal to me that i have seen slated for relase this year.  After all, it is my most played Xbox 360 game by far.

2 years and 4 months (actually probably 3) is kind of a long time for a game to go without a sequel.  At this point, i think it is either Kinect sequel or the series being done.  If the series was done, why register the domain though?   i leaning towards a 65-70% chance of a sequel, especially since Kinect primarily targets the more "casual" audience.  If there is a sequel, i would guess work started mid/late 2010.  i would expect it to launch in October or November.

Now that the history lesson is done, here are my experiences with the game...  i played it a lot, i liked it, i wish there would have been more awesome 80s pop.

To prove that i have actually played it, i offer up some disturbing pictures.  Yes, i have 2 accounts and these are both me.  The numbers in the first picture may seem off, but that is because of the way the stats from the first Lips carried over (i probably have more plays than this - i know there were at least 5,300).  i definitely have more challenge wins overall.  

i hope they release a Lips Kinect enabled version (with drastically reduced start-up times).  i know that the music game genre is in decline (or at least a slump) and profitability is fading.  i know i have a wishlist post on this blog somewhere.  Lips does have a lot of decent/good songs.  Unfortunately, they do not have enough (in my opinion).  i would prefer that the next game/sequel (if it exists) will have upwards of 1,000 songs.  Oh yeah, can i get some Breathe songs - please.